Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Migrant crisis: Greece starts deportations to Turkey


  • 12 minutes ago

Media captionThe first buses carrying people being returned to Turkey arrive at the port of Lesbos, Greece
The first boats carrying migrants being deported from Greece to Turkey have departed under an EU plan aimed at easing mass migration to Europe.
Scores of migrants were seen boarding ferries on the Greek island of Lesbos early on Monday.
They are being sent to Dikili, western Turkey. Turkish officials said they expected to receive around 500 people.
The EU-Turkey deal has been attacked by rights groups and there are concerns over a lack of preparation.
Migrants in Greece have complained of a lack of information about the asylum procedure and some said they were unaware they could be returned.
The EU agency responsible for escorting people back across the Aegean has less than one-tenth of the staff needed to do the job, the Associated Press reported.
Another ferry carrying migrants to Turkey is also due to leave the Greek island of Chios on Monday.
The vice-mayor of Lesbos told the BBC that 136 people had left the island so far, most from Pakistan.
Migrants await fate on Lesbos
EU-Turkey deal a 'Herculean task'
The crisis in seven charts
Under the deal, migrants arriving illegally in Greece are expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected.
For each Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, the EU is due to take in another Syrian who has made a legitimate request.
Turkey won financial and political concessions as part of the agreement.

At the scene: Mark Lowen, BBC News, Western Turkey

Tents for migrants are stored in TurkeyImage copyright AFP
Image caption Turkey is preparing to accommodate the deported migrants
Both Turkey and Greece have made a panicked rush to meet this deadline - and neither country is really ready.
Only a fraction of the necessary staff have arrived on the Greek islands to accompany the process and in Turkey the preparation is still sketchy.
Two tents have been erected in Dikili to register the first group from Lesbos, with similar facilities further south to receive migrants sent from Chios.
The Turkish interior minister says non-Syrians will be deported while Syrians will be sent to refugee camps where they will replace those who will be directly resettled in Europe as part of the "one for one" plan.
But there are still grave doubts over whether the deal will hold and if the migrants will be properly treated when they arrive here.

The arrangement has alarmed rights groups, who say Turkey is not a safe country for migrants.
Amnesty International has accused Turkey of illegally returning Syrians to their homeland, something Turkey denies.
Save the Children called the deal "illegal and inhumane", saying people told them they would kill themselves if sent back to Turkey.
A migrant boy holds up a sign reading 'No Turkey'Image copyright AFP
Image caption Migrants on the Greek island of Chios have protested against the deal
A child sleeps outside a tent in a makeshift migrant camp in GreeceImage copyright Reuters
Image caption There have been warnings of deteriorating conditions for migrants in Greece
Hungarian soldiers roll out barbed wireImage copyright EPA
Image caption Border controls further north, like here in Hungary, have left thousands stranded in Greece
Since the deal was struck in March, about 400 people have been arriving each day on the Greek islands.
Tens of thousands have been stuck in Greece after northern countries closed their borders. There have been clashes in camps amid dire conditions.
One million migrants and refugees have entered the EU by boat from Turkey to Greece since last year.
Many are keen to travel to Germany and other northern EU countries and experts have warned the deal could force them to take alternative, more dangerous routes.
In Austria meanwhile, pro-migrant protesters clashed with police at a border crossing with Italy.
It comes after Austrian Defence Minister Peter Doskozil said soldiers would be deployed at a key transit point, saying the EU's outer borders were not properly protected.
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A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.

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